Dr. Christopher M. Leighton Honored by the American Jewish Committee
Posted May 7, 2009
The following is an adaptation of a speech given on April 21, 2009 by the Rev. Dr. Christopher M. Leighton, Executive Director of the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies, to the American Jewish Committee, Baltimore Chapter. Dr. Leighton was honored by the AJC with a Humanitarian Award for his work in interfaith relations. Founded in Baltimore, MD in 1987, the ICJS addresses the contemporary challenges of religious pluralism by reexamining the assumptions and theological distortions that have contributed to the historical conflict between Christians and Jews; and by developing resources that inspire both Christians and Jews to honor the legitimacy and distinctiveness of the other.
A Report on Interfaith Relations
We find ourselves in complicated times, perched as we are on the edge of a moment when the stakes of interfaith relations all too often boil down to a matter of life and death.
The headlines give chilling testimony. Pope Benedict XVI opens the door to the Society of Pius X. This rapprochement extends to a Holocaust-denying bishop and legions of dissident Roman Catholics who stand in opposition to the Second Vatican Council-not least because of the Council’s promulgation of Nostra Aetate in 1965, which reversed the teaching of contempt for Judaism and the Jewish people. What many of us had come to regard as a permanent revolution in Jewish-Christian relations turns out to be a far more fragile achievement than we once imagined. If God’s covenant with the Jewish people is defective or incomplete or superseded, then the stage is set once again for efforts to convert the Jews. So the decision by the pope to reinstate the Good Friday prayers entitled "For the Conversion of the Jews" in the Tridentine Mass delivers yet another disturbing sign that the clock can move backward.
The picture from the Protestant side is no less vexing. Evangelical Christians remain stalwart supporters of the State of Israel, but significant numbers of them operate with supersessionist agendas that should make the Jewish community nervous. The more progressive segments of the Protestant community have taken steps that affirm what the apostle Paul described as "the irrevocable covenant" between God and the Jews. Yet many of these same Protestant communities have been sharp, if not hostile, critics of Israel. The condemnations of Israel’s incursion into the Gaza Strip this past summer provide disturbing examples of mainline Protestant churches that are susceptible to one-sided pro-Palestinian ideologies.
These lamentable retreats from the commitments of the recent past are taking place against the backdrop of a world preoccupied with Islam. I am hearing far too many of my Christian colleagues argue that the problems between Jews and Christians are now under control. The time has come, they say, to shift our attention elsewhere. With two billion Christians and one and a half billion Muslims in the world, the proverbial gorilla in the church’s living room is Islam. We need to bear in mind that the areas where Christianity and Islam are both growing exponentially are in the Southern hemisphere, which is to say, the center of gravity is shifting to global regions where there is little or no Jewish presence. The implications of this are far- reaching, and most Americans are giving the challenges little attention. There are more Presbyterians in Ghana than in Scotland, more
Presbyterians in Korea than in the United States. It is very likely that the ecclesiastical leadership, including the Papacy, will increasingly comprise individuals who have never known or studied with a Jew. In other words, the next generation of Christian leaders on the international scene will feature individuals who do not recognize the centrality of the Jewish-Christian encounter and therefore have only marginal concern for Israel and the Jewish people.
In the last five years, I have seen a number of organizations once committed to Jewish-Christian relations become enterprises that now include Islam. Do not get me wrong. We need to learn a great deal more about Islam, and there are important reasons for educational initiatives that are more inclusive. But let us not for a moment delude ourselves into thinking that the problems of the past two thousand years, what Robert Wistrich calls "the longest hate," have been tidied up. The vast majority of Christians have yet to hear about the dramatic shift in Jewish-Christian relations, and the seeds of contempt are easily cultivated in the heat of political and economic meltdowns. The resurgence of antisemitism in Europe underscores the point.
I imagine that my summary reads like the proverbial Jewish telegram: "Start worrying. Details to follow." Yet I fear that we Christians and Jews are apt to take the achievements of the past forty-five years for granted. This past year has delivered us a kick in the pants: It is no time for either of our communities to get smug and complacent.
The folks who have been in the front ranks of Jewish-Christian relations are aging. We have an urgent need to engage the next two generations in this work. The challenge is to provide an alternative for young people, who on the one hand, have grown cynical and bored with institutional religion, and on the other hand, are disillusioned with the empty promises of a secular culture obsessed with self-gratification. These disenchanted seekers are increasingly opting for the certainties and structure of religious fundamentalism. This is why the ICJS is pouring so much time and energy into projects that seek to "reclaim the center."
In addition to developing educational programs that engage younger audiences and that inspire learning among up-and-coming community leaders, we need to engage the next generation of clergy, Jewish and Christian. Rabbi Harold Schulweis once observed that our seminaries do a marvelous job of educating clergy to live in a world that no longer exists and to answer complex technical questions that no one is asking. The urgency of the interfaith encounter is routinely overlooked. Until clergy have the opportunity to discover how little they know about their religious neighbors and how much they can learn and grow from the encounter, they will remain happily ensconced within their insular enclaves. Yet the fact is inescapable: We live in a world that cannot afford clergy who hunker down in their separate ghettoes and who avoid the disorienting challenges posed by religious pluralism. As Abraham Joshua Heschel, of blessed memory, noted, "no religion is an island." Isolationism is a dysfunctional and dangerous myth.
So we have our work cut out for us. The health of our communities, our city, our state, and our nation is imperiled if we pretend that we are all the same, that it does not matter if one is a Jew or Christian or skinhead as long as one is sincere. We are not interchangeable and neither are our traditions. Our challenge is to do what our ancestors never dreamed possible. We can honor the non-negotiable gifts that Jews and Christians have each been given in solidarity with one another. We can preserve and protect one another’s integrity in the face of hostility and indifference. We can forge the kinds of relationships that prevent hatred and ignorance from holding our communities hostage.
Education seems an anemic response to extremists who are plotting massive devastation. Study appears a flaccid answer to the bloody excesses of the zealot. The task of disarming religious hate may demand more incisive interventions than teachers and diplomats have to offer. Yet we must acknowledge that the front line of the battle is fought over ideas, and the failure to engage in the ideological struggles will exact a far heavier toll than we like to imagine. Dig beneath the headlines and you find that a war is being waged for the soul of our religious traditions. The outcome will in large measure determine the kind of world that we pass along to our children and grandchildren.
We desperately need education that will teach us how to break the grip of our own self-absorption and to see the world through the eyes of others. We have to step into foreign lands and navigate uncertain waters to make the discoveries. We should not minimize the risks in this adventure. When we leave the comforts of home, we can become dreadfully lost. Yet the people with whom I have had the privilege of working over the past thirty-three years have convinced me that Baltimore is capable of a pioneering educational venture and can set a standard for other cities around the country to emulate. Here people know that they are descendents of Abraham. They know that the encounter with the divine depends upon a willingness to leave the familiar behind, to go forth in search of an elusive promise, and to bring the stranger into their tents. It defies all logic, but Baltimore may yet demonstrate that it too is a land of promise where peoples discover that they can be a blessing to all the nations.
Dr. Christopher M. Leighton
Executive Director, ICJS
